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Justin Skule’s disposition is an odd match for his size. Whereas the gregarious duo of Joe Staley and Mike McGlinchey bookend the 49ers’ offensive line with an all-encompassing racket — both in style of play and vocality — Skule, with a listed 6’6″, 318-pound frame, isn’t much of a talker. On the flip side, the sixth-round pick out of Vanderbilt does listen, and makes an effort to be a sponge to those boisterous bookends.
After Joe Staley fractured his fibula last Sunday, Skule, who was a question mark to make the final 53-man roster, is the new starting left tackle.
When KNBR spoke to Skule and his teammates in training camp, that point kept coming up. The guy is quiet, but he’s humble, tough and intelligent, according to his teammates. It’s why veteran wide receiver Jordan Matthews (another Vanderbilt alum who was cut at the end of training camp) said then that he expected Skule to be a “great O-lineman in the league, strictly because of how humble he is.”
“He’s gotta loosen up a little bit,” McGlinchey joked, before crediting Skule’s character. “He’s not quite the rambunctious personality of me and Joe.”
When head coach Kyle Shanahan responded to another smattering of Skule-related questions, he hammered home that point of Skule’s nature as a reserved student.
“Just being around here, he doesn’t talk very much, which I kind of like,” Shanahan said Wednesday. “He’s just quiet, goes about his business. It’s not because he’s not confident. I think he studies things very well, I think he’s very smart. Just watching him out in walk through today, did the game plan very well. A lot of times guys hear it on a Wednesday in the meetings and they go out to walk through and it’s their first time getting a start and everyone knows it and they kind of freak out a little bit. He’s the same as he’s been every day, just doesn’t talk much and pretty low key. I like guys who are like that.”
Intelligence was no doubt a factor in Skule’s draft value. He was a four-year starter at Vanderbilt, playing his first two years at right tackle and last two years at left, facing relentless SEC rushers; a task that could be argued is the best professional preparation a college offensive linemen could face.
Additionally, Vanderbilt ran a zone run scheme somewhat similar to the 49ers’, something Skule acknowledged, though the offensive complexity in Santa Clara is a far cry from college ball. Where Skule has picked up most, as he affirmed back in training camp, is Staley and McGlinchey.
Staley, according to McGlinchey, had Skule over to his house on Tuesday night to continue to be Skule’s super-sized Yoda.
“He’s been awesome since I’ve been here, just taking me under his wing, giving me little tricks of the trade,” Skule said. “He’s done a phenomenal job just these past couple days, giving me pointers, showing me how he goes through his process. I couldn’t ask for a better mentor.”
He’ll need whatever advice he can get, too. On Sunday, he’s largely going to be aligned with Bud Dupree, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ linebacker and edge rusher with a knack for wreaking havoc in the backfield. While he hasn’t hit double-digit sacks in his career, he’s had at least four sacks a season for each of his first four years in the league and has one already this year.
Dupree is a 6’4″, 269 pound rusher who, at age 26 and with four years of experience, is at the perfect point, both physically and mentally, to have a breakout season. There’s no question he’ll be relishing the chance to bombard a rookie tackle.
When McGlinchey was asked if he’d given any advice to Skule in dealing with the media (there was a scrum of roughly 20 media members surrounding Skule today; aside from a podium appearance early in OTAs, he’s been otherwise unbothered), McGlinchey told KNBR that Skule has bigger things to worry about than the media.
“All his focus is on blocking Bud Dupree,” McGlinchey said.
McGlinchey and Skule were working against each other in offensive line drills on Wednesday, with McGlinchey frequently discussing techniques with Skule after reps, attempting to pester him in as productive a way as possible.
He doesn’t have to guide Skule alone, though. When a reporter asked McGlinchey whether he’d have to take over Staley’s mentorship role that was provided to McGlinchey for Skule (“Are you the Joe to his Mike?”), the second-year tackle reaffirmed that Staley will be around.
“Joe is still here. He’s not gone,” McGlinchey said. “I know Joe had Justin over last night and stuff, helping him out and I’m helping Justin out as much as possible. I think my admiration for Joe has gotten even stronger here in the last four days because of the way he’s handled this. It’s a shitty situation with the way that things fell down. It’s a freak play that broke his leg, but these last four days, he’s been nothing but a great teammate and showed his true colors of the only thing he wants is for us to be successful, his brother on the offensive line and his team winning football games. And he’s going to do that every way he can, whether it’s coaching in a boot or if he’s playing with us in a couple weeks.”
Skule took 15 snaps last Sunday when Staley went out and while the 49ers basically only ran the ball at that point, he was at least not called for any penalties. He’ll need to excel in the pass game, too, to cover quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo’s blindside in the team’s home opener. Garoppolo, like everyone else asked, praised Skule, saying, “Smart guy, came into the huddle during the game, didn’t blink or anything.”
He’s going to need to keep those eyes peeled wide on Sunday if he wants to keep his far from locked down starting tackle spot for the next six-to-eight weeks, and potentially start to stake a claim as Staley’s successor. But that’s far in the future. None of that, nor media attention will likely be too much on Skule’s mind. Dupree, however, will.